Ribbon vibrator for typewriters



July 29. 1924.

O. A. HOKANSON RIBBON VIBRATOR FOR TYPEWRITERS 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed May 29 N hm |ll\\| ||,l||l| llil lli lllllllil l l||i||l| NNN@ mamwm/- M7/7655." @g /.my

July 29 1924.

O. A. HOKNSON RIBBON vBnATon Fon TYPEwaI'rnas Filed May 29 1920 2 Sheen-Sheet 2 Patented July 29, 1924.

UNITED' STATES 1,502,353 PATENT OFFICE.

OTTO A. HIOKANSON, OF WOODST'OCK, ILLINOIS, 'ASSIGNOR TO VVOODS'I'OCK TYPE- WRITER COMPANY, OF WOODSTOCK,k ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION F ILLINOIS.

RIBBON VIBRATOR FOR TYPEWRITERS.

Application filed May 29, 1920. Serial No. 885,185.

. T o all whom t may cof/wem Be it known that I, OTTO A. HoKANs-ON, a citizen of the United States, residing at lVoodstock, in the county of McHenry and State of Illinois, have invented certain new" and useful Improvements in Ribbon Vibrators for Typewriters, of which the yfollowing a is a specification.

This invention has for its object the provision of mechanism of the class named which shall be of improved construction and operation f The invention is exemplified in the combination and arrangement of parts shown in the accompanying drawings anddescribed in the following specification, and it is more particularly pointed out in thek appended claims. f Y

In the drawings- Y Fig. l is a front elevationalview of a portion of a typewriter showing the present invention applied thereto;

' Fig. 2 isa top planview ofthe mechanism shown in Fig. 1; and y from the Fig. 3 is anelevation looking right in Fig. 2. u n l In the drawings the invention is illustrated as applied to a'typewriter provided with a folding frame for supporting the platen carriage, and while the invention'is especiallyadapted for use in connection with' a typewriter of this kind, it is understood that it is not confined to any particular form of typewriter except, as set forth inthe claims. i Y The typewriter shown in the drawingstfis provided with/a main frame 10 having arms l1 pivoted thereon for supporting a platen' carriage bedplate 12.k A platen carriage 13 is mounted on the bed plate 12 and is movable thereon along ways 14 provided with ball bearings 15. A-platen roll 1 6 is supported onthe carriage 13 in any `usual and well-known manner. y 1 y frSecured to the ybed plate 12 by rivets kor screws 17 is a bracket plate 18A on which is mounted the various parts of the ribbonshifting mechanism. Thebracket plate 18 has a portion of the front edge thereof bent up-wardly to form an upright flange 19 to which a type bar guide 2O is secured by means ofscrews 21.' The guideplate 20 is.

provided with'- forwardly-extending lips 22 fory guiding the type bars into printing position. They lips 22are supported on the of a bell crank lever 29. The bell crank lever 29Yis mounted on a pivot 30 carried by a flange 31 bent upwardly from the bracket plate 18. An arm 32 of the bell crank lever 29 extends downwardly and has its lower end widened and provided ywith notches 33, 34 and 35.

As shown best in Fig. 2, a lever 36 is vpivotally supported at 37'on the lower face of the bracket plate 18 and is provided with arms 38 and 39 extending laterally from its pivotal support. The lever 36 is provided with a forwardly extending portion 40 fwhich carries downwardly projecting lugs 41. A yoke 42 is providedv with arms 43 pivotally connected to the lugs 41 by a pinl 44. A spring45 surrounds the pin 44 and tends to rotate the yoke 42vforwardly. A finger-piece 46 projects forwardly from the yoke 42 and carries a lug 47 arranged to selectively engage the notches 33, 34 and 35.`

"It will be apparent that the spring 45 willk hold the lug 47 in Contact with any particular notch engaged thereby and that the lug canbe shifted from one to the other of the three notches by Apressing downwardly on the linger-piece 46 and shifting the ngerpiece and the lever 36 connected therewith to bring the lug 47 into engagement with anyone of the three notches. The amount of rot-ation of the yoke 42 about the pin 44 islimited by a stop 42 on the rear of the yoke and the two outermost prongs of the notched end of the lever arm 32 are longer than` the intermediate prongs to prevent the lug 47 from passing out of engagement with the notched end kof the lever arm.

The arm 38 of the lever 36 is provided with a downwardly extending projection 4S which is positioned in the path of movement of a universal member 49. The member 49 is operated by the key levers in any well-known manner so that it is moved forwardly whenever a key is struck. The for- -ward movement of the universal member 49 and shift the lever36 about its pivot 37. The movement of the lever will carry the yoke 42 and the lug 47 thereon to the left, as viewed in Fig. l, which movement will shift the bell crank lever 29 in a clockwise direction, as viewed in that figure. The shifting of the bell cranlrlevenQQ-will raise the arm 28 into one of the positions indicated by broken lines in Fig. l and designated by the letters B and C. If the lug 47 is in engagement with the notch 34; the arm 28 will be raised `to position'B. lf, however, the lug 47 is in engagement with notch 35 the projection "48 will be in position vto contact more vquickly-with. the universali member '49, and hence tliefbell crank lever'29 will be given a greater `movement land vwill be raised to position C. fthe lug 47 is shifted to the left,'as viewed in Fig. l, into engagement with notch the projetioii48 Vwill be swung forwardly beyond the-path ofmovementof the Vuniversal member 49 so that the operation of the universal member will not change the position-of the bell crank 'lever 29 and the arm 28 will remain in its lowermost position designated bythe character A.. The ribbon carrier 241 will f'usually be provided with two-color zones, the upper one ofy which-maybe black and 'the'lower one red. When tlie arm 28 vis'shifted into position B the black Zone willberai'sedinto printing position,- Vand iflthe -arm isshifted into position'C the red Zone will bez brought intothe printingl line. vWhen thearm is in position YA the ribbon is Vbelow V'theprinting 1 lineso that ifv the `lug 47-is^mov`ed to engage notch 33 the ribbon willremainlstationaiy below the Vprinting line-during the operation of the key levers. This isthe position; of

stencils. i

Asshown inK Fig.' 2, a-spring -iO-is connected totlie arm 39 of thevlever 36 and normally draws the arm 39'-forwardlyto hold the ribbon carrier l24 inf'its-lowermost position with vthe varm 32 in contact with a limit stop 32 on thev flange 31. Afstop 51 `is provided for limiting the movement of the lever 36 in the yopposite direction-and the arm 39 is provided' with a plurality of openings '52 for receiving the end of -thefspring k50 toy varythe tension ofthe sprin'gjlupon 'the lever 36. i

It will be seen vthat-the invention-provides a ribbon vibrator iiiV which all ofthe parts are connected with the platen carriage so'that vthey may be folded with the carriage into andout of its operatingl position without `breaking the operative connectioirbetween the parts. y The movement of the carriage into operating position automatically brings the vibrator into position to be operated by the universal member whichis actuated by the key lever mechanism carried by the base frame of the machine. vThe ribbon vibrator always returns toithe sameinitial position to leave the printing line uncovered vand the mechanism may be adjusted to vary thethi'ow so that different portions of the ribbon will` be employed vfor printing, or, it

may 'be adjusted so that the ribbon remains idle when thelreyvlevers are operated. The

mechanism is simple and the parts are all "compactly'varranged so that they may be i of the typewriter.

I'claimc- 1.-',In a typewriter, la ribbon carrier, a

-lever Vfor actuating said carrier to shift the ribbon thereon, an operating member for said lever,'\aiid means for connecting said operating member with said lever at different positions on said lever displaced angularlyi'elative to one another with respect 4to-the fulcrum of` said lever tovcause said operating member to impartdifferent amounts of movementtosaid lever.

r2l' In a type-writer, a ribbon carrier, a

f lever forl actuating said carrierto' shift-the -l ribbon thereon, aHoperatingmember `for said lever, and means f on* said` operating member for engaging said actuating lever at a plurality of positionsitliereon disposed lat ldiff'erentangles -witli'frespect to the vfulcrum of said lever, so -thatsaid operating member wlienfvmoved to a iXed limit of f travel w-ill'sliiftv saidleverdifferent amounts, said engaging means 'i being inovableinto j and fout of 4operative connection Awith said lever to permit the shifting'ofasaidqopeiatvLingl member lrelative to ysaid lever.

13. In Va Itypewriter,` a ribbons carrier,

@means for'factuatingsaid carrier to `shift the lug 4T f and finger-piece 46 for cutting the; ribbon thereonyan operating member -an adjustable Vconnection between :said operating member-aiidsaid actuating means to permit shifting of said operating member toward-and' away from'sa'id universal-mem- "bersothat different amounts Aof movement v will jbe transmittedf to said l ribbony carrier :for a-l given-movementV of 1 said universal `member.

' 4.1111 a typewriter, a "platen lcarria'ge VHmovable into: and out-ofope'rating position,

a ribbon carrier -movably-lmounted on -said carriage; a lever for-'actuating`-said`carrier to7 shift tlieribbon thereon; a-second lever i;

for operating said'actuating lever; a: spring vfor normally returning -said actuating lever toa fixed vvinitial position; an adjustable connection between said levers tol *vary the Vposition of said voperating lever wlien'said actuating leverV is in initial position; yand ymeans for moving said -operatiiigflever to a'Xed limiting position to impart different `amounts *of movement :to vsaid actuating lever and said ribbon carrier for the different adjustments of said levers relative to one another.

5. In a typewriter having a platen carriage arranged to move into and out of operating position; a ribbon carrier movably mounted on said carriage; an actuating lever for said carrier; a spring for normally holding said actuating lever and carrier in a fixed initial position; a lever for operating 'said actuating lever; an adjustable connection between said levers to vary the position of said operating lever when said actuating lever is in initial position; and a universal member arranged to cooperate with said operating lever when said platen carriage is in operating position and to move said operating lever to a fixed limiting position to impart different amounts of movement to said actuating lever and said ribbon carrier for the different adjustments of said levers relative to one another.

6. In a typewriter, a platen carriage arranged to movel into and out of operating position; a ribbon carrier movably mounted on said carriage; a member `for actuating said carrier to shift said ribbon; a device for operating said actuating member5means arranged to cooperate with said operating device when said carriage is in operating position and to move said operating device to a limiting position; and an adjustable connection between said actuating member and said operating device for setting said operating device in different initial positions at different distances from its said cooperating means, said connection in one position being arranged to permit said actuating member and said ribbon carrier to remain stationary when the means for moving said operating device is operated and to impart different amounts of movement to said actuating member and ribbon carrier for other positions of adjustment.

7. A. ribbon vibrator for typewriters comprising a ribbon holder, a pivoted member for operating said holder, an actuating device for said pivoted member, means for moving said actuating device from diiferent starting positions to a fixed limit of movement, and means for connecting said actuating device with said pivoted member at points on said pivoted member having different angular positions relative to Athe pivotal center thereof but spaced substantially equal distances from said center.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification on this 24th day of May A. D. 1920.r

OTTO A. HOKANSON. 

